W. Brandywine gets help to repair Icedale Bridge

Photo by Bill Rettew Jr.
A community-government partnership between West Brandywine and Jelke’s Fabricating will rebuild the Icedale Road Bridge in the township, which was closed because of structural problems. From left, Chalie Jelke, Charlie Jelke Jr. and Norm Jelke discuss rebuilding the bridge with township employees Marlon DiDavide and Tom Eells.

WEST BRANDYWINE — Santa Claus is making a special stop in the township, and just in time for Christmas.

Along with township workers, Jelke’s Fabricating Company, Inc., 1808 Horseshoe Pike, is taking over for Santa and pitching in both work time and materials in a bid to reopen the Icedale Road Bridge.

Renovation by the township started last Monday and is expected to be completed by Christmas, weather permitting, according to Public Works Director Tom Eells.

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A June 26 letter from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation contractor McCormick Taylor Engineers notified the township that the twin span had failed an inspection and should be closed immediately.

Eells said Thursday that 24 steel support beams need replacing and are corroded, while resembling “Swiss cheese.”

Since the closure, the only other way in or out by roadway for about 50 Honey Brook Township and 26 West Brandywine homeowners is through the Icedale and Birdell roads intersection which floods regularly and is often impassable.

Residents worried that during nasty weather, emergency responders would not be able to reach their homes. And, with the bridge closed, residents were required to detour more than 9 miles round trip to access Horseshoe Road.

Impacted residents lobbied the township, state representatives and PennDOT to reach a solution as township officials and workers looked hard for answers.

Tom Smallwood, Hillside Court, lives in a home he said might require use of a ferry until the bridge was repaired or replaced.

“We were relentless,” said Smallwood, a regular meeting attendee. “We were calling representatives to put some pressure on PennDOT and the township. I’m pretty impressed that they’re moving forward with this.”

Jelke’s regularly works with steel. It will donate the required steel beams and has the required experience to properly handle the project, Eells said. Jelke’s is also expected to donate about 150 manhours toward rebuilding the bridge. Jelke’s builds mostly custom fabrications for energy businesses.

Repointing masonry and replacing and tightening much of the original mortar work has started, The current bridge support is “an odd mix of mortar and loose stone” holding up granite stone walls, said Eells. That job will take about 100 man hours by township workers to complete.

Eels said it should take another 100 hours of township time to remove the original beams and set new ones to achieve the highest weight limit possible. The previous weight limit on the bridge prior to the closure was 6 tons, enough for an ambulance and passenger cars to safely cross, but not a full fire truck.

“Let’s put all our heads together and get this done,” Norm Jelke, vice president of Jelke’s Fabricating Company said. “Let’s not make it a drag out affair. We’re all in this together.”

Jelke’s president, Charlie Jelke, his son Charlie Jr., cost estimator, and Charlie’s brother Norm are regular users of the bridge.

Supervisor Tom McCaffrey, said Thursday that no PennDOT funds will be used for the project since state funding would have come with strings attached.

PennDOT would have paid for engineering but the township would have been on the hook for the $1 million to $2 million price tag, while nearly starting from scratch and replacing the bridge to modern standards, said McCaffrey. He also said the permitting process building the bridge to PennDOT standards would have taken up 18 months to two years to complete.

“The State of Pennsylvania left us totally alone, without anything,” McCaffrey said,

Supervisor Bill Webb was pleased by the Jelke’s offer and said the township didn’t have the money to construct a modern bridge to modern standards and weight limits.

“The state wasn’t coming through,” Webb said. “It seemed like we were getting a lot of lip service.”

Supervisor Joe Obernier is thankful Jelke’s is lending a hand since township workers haven’t worked extensively with steel.

“The township might not have been able to do it,” Obernier said. “Jelke’s is used to working with steel. The roads department had not been used to working with steel which is a whole different area.